Announcing the Best of The Last Ten Years A113Animation Awards

Here at A113Animation, we love animated films (just in case you didn't know). We suspect you do too. For the past two years, we've had our own A113Animation Awards, rewarding the best animated films of the year - we'll continue this in December with our 3rd Annual A113Animation Awards.

However, this year, we're also running the "Best of the Last Ten Years" A113Animation Awards! Honouring the best animated films from the start of 2001 to the end of 2011. I'll be conducting my own "Best Animated Film of the Last Ten Years" award, choosing between 1 and 3 films from each year (depending on the strength of the year) and whittling them down over time, to get the final short-list of nominees. You can expect to see the first list of nominees in the next few days.

But we also want YOUR say! There will be a "People's Choice Award for the Best Animated Film of the Last ten Years" too! with the nominees coming from you! Over at our official Facebook page, you'll find a poll, asking you to vote for what you think the best animated film of the past ten years has been. There's some films up in the options already, and voting has begun, but you can add your own options (providing they are from the last ten years) and vote for whatever you deem fit! Every vote counts though, and if you want to vote via Twitter (mention us, @A113Animation, and use the hashtag, #A113TenYears) or email (contact@a113animation.com). The votes will be counted as the weeks progress, and in a few weeks time, there'll be rounds of voting, here on the blog and on Facebook. We will then get it down to a list of ten, and you can vote for your favourites and have your say.

The winners of the two awards will be unveiled sometime in the near future (precise time-frame to come later) and be sure to keep your eyes here, on A113Animation, for the latest updated on the Awards.

In the meantime, have your voice heard! And please vote in the poll (here) now, we want to make this as interactive as possible!

2011 Producers Guild Awards Nominations

The nominations for the 23rd Annual Producers Guild of America (PGA) Awards were recently announced. The nominations for the theatrical animated feature category this year are below, with the respective producers noted.

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
Producers: Peter Jackson, Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg

CARS 2
Producer: Denise Ream

KUNG FU PANDA 2
Producer: Melissa Cobb

PUSS IN BOOTS
Producers: Joe M. Aguilar, Latifa Ouaou

RANGO
Producers: John B. Carls, Gore Verbinski

The winners will be announced on January 21.

2011 So Far

With the end of the year just over a month away, and Christmas approaching even faster, now seemed as good a time as any to take a retrospective look back at 2011 in animated films.

Now, first of all, a few have pointed out that my reviews are mostly positive, don't get me a wrong, I can be a particularly nasty blighter some times, particularly when I strongly dislike a film, however, I, obviously, am very passionate about animation, Disney and Pixar in general, and hate to fault it, furthermore, I purposefully avoid films that I know will be bad or that I have no interest in seeing, so I'm generally complementary in my reviews, yet, even by my standards, 2011 has been a brilliant year for animation thus far.

Assorted Disney News

Not everything on A113Animation will always be dedicated to animation - although if it's not, it's generally closely linked -, today is proof of that. Above you will see the latest trailer for The Muppets, due out in November, and it looks great, parodies can sometimes seem asinine (although we are expecting a proper film-footage trailer very soon), I love this one, it's great. Also, from what I've heard, this trailer's already better than the full Green Lantern film... just saying...

Secondly, Disney have recently released the first teaser poster for Pixarian Andrew Stanton's first venture into Live Action, John Carter (formerly John Carter of Mars). Due to be released on March 9, 2012, this is the first look we get at the two time Academy Award winner's first Live Action feature.

I'm actually very excited to see this film and can't wait to see how Stanton's talent transfers to Live Action.

Aardman News 4 - Straight from Annecy

We've seen a lot out of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, lots of details on the Pixar short, La Luna, and thanks to Aardman Co-Owener Peter Lord's Twitter, we get an article with some in-depth looks and thoughts on Aardman's upcoming slate, Arthur Christmas and The Pirates. The article tells us that Arthur Christmas is fantastic and a great twist on the rather stale Christmas film niche, it also gives us more insight into the film's plot - seeing Arthur and his granddad (the former Santa Claus) travel around the world in the old fashioned sleigh to deliver one last present that was left behind. It sounds great and Skwigly seem to agree, the animation style (CGI here, rather than the trademark Aardman stop-motion) looks great and distinctly Aardman.

The article also gives us a little more details on Aardman's 2012 stop-motion film, The Pirates, which is said to be even more impressive and visually stunning and massively impressive, as well as hilarious. The article also gives us an insight into the genesis of the film, and apparently it has been on the table since the 1990s, but DreamWorks told them that no one would pay to see a pirate film. Since then and the success of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, the film has been put under full production and is being directed by Peter Lord and is set to be released in 2012.

I can't wait to see either of these films, I love anything out of Aardman and would encourage you all to head over to Skwigly to read the full article, it's incredibly interesting.

A113Animation Competition

You may have noticed for a few months now that there has been a page shrouded in mystery, the Competition Page. Well, it is no longer "Under Construction", it is now up and running and if you head over there you will see the above image. We are happy to announce the conditions of the first ever A113Animation Competition; you will have the chance to judge the the first ever "Second Opinion Award" AND win a free copy of the original Cars on DVD. All you have to do to win is write up a fairly detailed review (don't just put it in a big font) of any animated film from 2011 (including Tangled as that only came out in January in the UK so will be included in the awards) and e-mail it to a113animation@gmail.com by 5th October 2011. I will then read each one carefully and announce (on the blog) and contact the winner via their e-mail by the 20th October.

Also, please be sure to include your mailing address in the e-mail entry, so we know where to send the prize.

We're all very excited about this competition and hope it will be the first of many, so please, enter, tell your friends and just have fun.

Disney Universe Details

Disney Interactive have unveiled a new game, Disney Universe (trailer above). A game in which you don famous Disney and Pixar character costumes, such as Mike Wazowski (Monsters, Inc.) and Stitch (Lilo & Stitch) in a romp through the universe of all of the films involved. The official website offers up the following description:

Disney Universe is an off-the-wall non-stop action adventure where Disney worlds and characters mix up for the first time. Suit up in iconic costumes and face challenges in legendary Disney worlds. Defeat enemies, collect coins and powerups, unlock new costumes and explore with friends as you battle in a mix-up of worlds inspired by numerous Disney and Pixar films.

• Suit-up for action as more than 40 classic and contemporary Disney characters including Alice, Mike, TRON and Stitch.
• Mischief, magic and mayhem reign as players explore 6 different worlds inspired by Disney and Pixar films.
• Team up with up to four friends to solve puzzles or defeat enemies or toss your friend into trouble!

The trailer looks great, the idea sounds great and it looks to bring a brand new type of Disney game to the table. We also get some screenshots of the game, showing some familiar settings and characters (all below):

The screenshots show a familiar setting in the form of Monsters, Inc., showing that this game really will combine the best of Disney and Pixar for the first time ever in the video game world.

The game looks great and will be coming to Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii in Fall 2011.

More La Luna Details Emerge

Yesterday, details emerged on a brand new Pixar short, La Luna, set to debut later this year at the Annecy Film Festival and today yet more details emerge.

Firstly, we have the very simple yet effective looking title card for the short (above). As I said yesterday, I really like the look of the short and this title fits with what I've seen so far and just looks generally great.

Joining director Enrico Casarosa at the helm is Kevin Reher, as producer, who previously produced Partly Cloudy and Day & Night. It is a very solid sounding team at the top of this project and La Luna looks set to be a great addition to the already fantastic Pixar animated short film canon.

Finally, La Luna is set to have a running time of 6:53, which Mike of The Pixar Blog reliably informs us is Pixar's longest short film by almost a minute, adding to the feel of a "fable" that it is touted to be.

The short sounds great and could easily be the one we see attached to Brave in 2012.

New Pooh

Above is the newest clip that Walt Disney Animation Studios have released for their next theatrical animated feature, the hand drawn, Winnie the Pooh.
As I've said previously, this film looks great, classic, innocent Disney magic.

Apart from anything else you've got to love Winnie the Pooh!

Roll on July.

Newest Rio Clip

The newest clip for Blue Sky Studios' upcoming film, Rio, was released today (above). As I predicted, as the film's April release date draws ever closer, we're being treated to more and more clips, and they're all great. As regular blog followers will know, Rio is one of the animated films that I'm most looking forward to this year and these clips are very reassuring!

The animation looks great, the music looks great, the story sounds great and - as the film that allegedly was the reason for Pixar's newt being cancelled - I'm hoping it is great.

Stay tuned for more!

Another New Rio Clip

As predicted yesterday, the roll out of Rio videos continues as we get another clip of Blue Sky Studios' upcoming feature animated film, Rio. The film, due out next month, looks great and this clip gives us another little look at the film's main human protagonist.

Stay tuned for more Rio updates and, as the end of the video suggests, updates of Angry Birds Rio - I will even be uploading a review of the game after it's release on the 22nd!

New DreamWorks Films: 2011-2014

DreamWorks Animation yesterday announced their very impressive schedule of released for 2011-2014, whilst it seems a tad over the top to have 9 films in 3 years, it is encouraging to see the large number of original films - but there is still a lot of sequels. Nonetheless, time will tell and you can view the full press release below:

GLENDALE, Calif., March 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (Nasdaq: DWA) today announced its feature film release slate through 2014.The Company's current plan features six original films and is anchored by three sequels based on its hit Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar and How to Train Your Dragon franchises.

DreamWorks Animation's theatrical release schedule is currently planned as follows: Kung Fu Panda 2 for May 26, 2011 and Puss In Boots for November 4, 2011; Madagascar 3 for June 8, 2012 and Rise of the Guardians for November 21, 2012; The Croods for March 1, 2013, Turbo for June 7, 2013 and Me and My Shadow for November 8, 2013; Mr. Peabody & Sherman for March 21, 2014 and How to Train Your Dragon 2 for June 20, 2014.
"At DreamWorks Animation, our creative ambition has never been greater and the release schedule we're unveiling today is designed to give our movies the time and resources they need to realize their full potential so each one can become a true event for our audiences," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer of DreamWorks Animation. "Thanks to the extraordinary talent base at DreamWorks Animation today, our feature film slate is full of both original story ideas and exciting new franchise chapters that will form a solid foundation for the studio's creative output through 2014," added Bill Damaschke, the Company's Chief Creative Officer.

Below is additional detail on the feature films that comprise DreamWorks Animation's theatrical release schedule:

Kung Fu Panda 2 will be released on May 26, 2011. It is being directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Kung Fu Panda), produced by Melissa Cobb (Kung Fu Panda) and written by Jonathan Aibel & Glenn Berger (Kung Fu Panda). It stars Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, James Hong and Michelle Yeoh. In the sequel, Po is living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five. But Po's life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. Po must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins... only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.

Puss In Boots will be released on November 4, 2011. It is directed by Chris Miller (Shrek the Third) and produced by Joe Aguilar (Merry Madagascar) and Latifa Ouaou (Monsters vs. Aliens). It is being written by Tom Wheeler (The Cape). Andrew Adamson (Shrek, The Chronicles of Narnia) and Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) are serving as executive producers on the film, which stars Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris. Way before he ever met Shrek, the legendary Puss In Boots goes on a heroic journey, teaming up with mastermind Humpty Dumpty and the street-savvy Kitty Softpaws to steal the famed Goose that lays the Golden Eggs. It's the adventure of nine lifetimes!

Madagascar 3 will be released on June 8, 2012. It is directed by Eric Darnell (Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa) and produced by Mireille Soria (Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa) and Mark Swift (Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa). It is being written by Noah Baumbach (Fantastic Mr. Fox) and once again stars Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric The Entertainer and Andy Richter. Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe are still fighting to get home to their beloved Big Apple and of course, King Julien, Maurice and the Penguins are all along for the comedic adventure. Their journey takes them through Europe where they find the perfect cover: a traveling circus, which they reinvent – Madagascar style.

Rise of the Guardians, based on the forthcoming books by William Joyce, will be released on November 21, 2012. It is directed by Peter Ramsey (Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space) and co-directed by Joyce. The film is being produced by Christina Steinberg (Bee Movie, National Treasure) and Nancy Bernstein, long-time head of Production at DreamWorks Animation. Rise of the Guardians is being written by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole) and executive produced by Guillermo del Toro and Michael Siegel. It stars Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher and Jude Law. More than a collection of the well-known childhood legends, Rise of the Guardians is an epic adventure that tells the story of a group of heroes – each with extraordinary abilities. When an evil spirit known as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world.

The Croods will be released on March 1, 2013. It is being written and directed by two-time Academy Award® nominee Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch) and Kirk DeMicco (Space Chimps) and produced by Kristine Belson (How to Train Your Dragon) and Jane Hartwell (Shrek). It stars Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke and Cloris Leachman. The Croods is a comedy adventure that takes us back to a previously undiscovered era in the history of our planet known as the Croodaceous, when nature was still a work-in-progress... full of never-before- seen creatures and landscapes. Audiences will relate to the hilarious family antics as an imaginative and resourceful newcomer helps the Croods navigate their way through the fantastic world beyond their cave.

Turbo will be released on June 7, 2013. It is being directed by David Soren (Merry Madagascar), who first brought the project to the studio, and produced by Lisa Stewart (Monsters vs. Aliens). It is being written by Darren Lemke (Shrek Forever After) together with Soren. Turbo tells the story of an ordinary garden snail with an impossible dream: to become the fastest snail in the world. When a freak accident gives him extraordinary speed, Turbo sets out to try to make this dream come true.

In Me and My Shadow, which will be released on November 8, 2013, the studio will pioneer a groundbreaking combination of both CG and traditional animation techniques seamlessly together throughout the film. The film is directed by Mark Dindal (Chicken Little, The Emperor's New Groove) and produced by Melissa Cobb (Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 2) and Teresa Cheng (Shrek Forever After, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron). It is being written by Tom Astle and Matt Ember (Get Smart). Me and My Shadow tells the story of Shadow Stan, an extremely frustrated shadow who yearns for a dynamic life but happens to be stuck with Stanley Grubb, the world's most boring human. Finally pushed to the brink, Shadow Stan breaks the singular rule of the Shadow World – "They lead, we follow" – and takes control of Stanley!

Mr. Peabody & Sherman will be released on March 21, 2014. It is directed by Rob Minkoff (Stuart Little, The Lion King) and produced by Jason Clark (Monster House, Stuart Little) and Denise Nolan Cascino (Megamind). It is being written by Craig Wright (United States of Tara, Six Feet Under). Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey, Bullwinkle Studio's Tiffany Ward and Classic Media's Eric Ellenbogen are serving as executive producers on the film, which stars two-time Academy Award® nominee Robert Downey Jr. Based on Jay Ward's classic cartoon, Mr. Peabody is the world's smartest person who happens to be a dog. He and his "pet" boy Sherman discover that someone has stolen their time traveling WABAC machine and is changing moments in history to disastrous and comical results. It's up to this most unexpected of father-son teams to somehow put a stop to this villain before his actions destroy the space-time continuum in Mr. Peabody & Sherman.

How to Train Your Dragon 2, the sequel to the Academy Award®-nominated original film from 2010, will be released on June 20, 2014. It is being directed and written by Dean DeBlois (How to Train Your Dragon) and produced by Bonnie Arnold (How to Train Your Dragon). Also based on the book series by Cressida Cowell, the sequel is being executive produced by Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon) together with DeBlois. How to Train Your Dragon 2 again stars Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, TJ Miller and Kristen Wiig. About DreamWorks Animation SKG DreamWorks Animation creates high-quality entertainment, including CG animated feature films, television specials and series, live entertainment properties and online virtual worlds, meant for audiences around the world. The Company has world-class creative talent, a strong and experienced management team and advanced filmmaking technology and techniques.

Keep your eyes pealed for more updates!

New Mars Needs Moms Trailer

Disney just uploaded the second trailer for Imagemovers Digital's upcoming motion-capture animation film, Mars Needs Moms. Whilst the trailer seems just to be, more or less, a rehashing of the previous trailer, it further showcase the eerily beautiful animation created by mo-cap.

Imagemovers' previous films (A Christmas Carol, Polar Express) haven't exactly been groundbreaking, but this does like quite good. Personally, I think it has a feel of WALL E about it.

The film is due to be released (in America) on 11th March this year. The film is also set to be the last film from Imagemovers Digital before it's closure later this year.

Thoughts?

BAFTA Results

As the evening progresses, I will update each award, stay tuned: Winners in Bold: Update - Slight cockup by BAFTA winners online here BEST FILM

BLACK SWAN - Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver, Scott Franklin

INCEPTION - Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan

THE KING’S SPEECH - Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin

THE SOCIAL NETWORK - Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Céan Chaffin

TRUE GRIT - Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

BAFTA Predictions

Since it is the 2011 BAFTAs tomorrow night here in the U.K., it thought it best to - similarly to my Oscar predictions - give my humble predictions. As previously, the films I want to win are in bold and the films I think will win are underlined, more than one in bold or underlined means I can't decide, none means I haven't seen any of the films nominated:

BEST FILM

BLACK SWAN - Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver, Scott Franklin

INCEPTION - Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan

THE KING’S SPEECH - Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin

THE SOCIAL NETWORK - Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Céan Chaffin

TRUE GRIT - Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

New Rango Trailer

The above trailer for Nickelodeon Moies' upcoming animated film, Rango, are to be shown at at this year's superbowl, along with the recently revealed Kung Fu Panda 2, "We Will Wok You" trailer. The trailer looks really great and has got me even more excited for the film!

Randy Newman Goes to the Oscars

This afternoon A.M.P.A.S. announced that Toy Story 3 composer, Randy Newman, is going to perform his Best Original Song nominated track, "We Belong Together" at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards.

Surely this is a good sign for Newman's chances of scooping up another Oscar.

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards take place on 27th February, 2011.

First 2 Minutes of Rio

Blue Sky Studios recently uploaded the first 2 minutes of their upcoming animated film, Rio, (above) onto the film's official YouTube page. The film looks absolutely beautiful, the animation is stunning, bright and vibrant, and as previously reported the film is a heck of a lot more musical than director, Carlos Saldanha's other films - Ice Age and Robots.

The film looks good so far and is far removed from all other Blue Sky Studios films.

Your thoughts?

Critics' Choice Awards

Yesterday was the 16th Annual Critics Choice Awards and it was a big night.

2010 was a great year for Animated films and every film nominated received significant critical acclaim, the nominations can be viewed below:

• Despicable Me
• How to Train Your Dragon
• The Illusionist
• Tangled
• Toy Story 3

The winner this year was...
Toy Story 3, Pixar's 11th feature film scooped up the prize for Best Animated Feature and director Lee Unkrich accepted the award in person.

However, it is worth noting that Toy Story 3 lost out in the other 4 categories it was nominated in, with The Social Network taking the top prize for Best Picture. Not long now to see which film takes home the Oscar.

You can read the full list of awards and nominees here.

Your thoughts?

Yet More Cars 2 Information

Over the past few weeks and months, we have received absolutely hordes of information regarding Pixar's next release, Cars 2. Last week we were treated to character shots and bios, a foreign poster and a Lightning McQueen Showroom Turntable, this week we got yet more information regarding the high octane sequel. We got another character turntable (above) for the 007 style Aston Martin, Finn McMissile - one of the coolest looking characters I've seen out of Pixar in a few years -, McMissile is to be voiced by British legend Michael Caine, you can watch the above video with the 007 theme music over the top (made by me) here or here in HD

We also got information on a new character (or CARacter - tehe), called Francesco Bernoulli (above), an Italian F1 Character. Whilst we've never heard of Francesco before, we have seen him before, in the first piece of Cars 2 concept art (below) with Lightning McQueen. It's been reported that the picture is artwork for some upcoming merchandise by Stitch Kingdom, so he is presumably quite an important character.

Finally, Pixar News Australia posted this new Cars 2 poster, a variant of the previous one featuring some of the main characters. It looks pretty awesome.

I'm really revved up (man, I'm hilarious today) for Cars 2 and super hyped for June (well... July here in the U.K.). Thanks to Pixar News Australia and The Pixar Times.